566 



NEW YORK. 



NORTH CAROLINA. 



ful experiments by courts of justice, in any form, or 

 to any extent. 



From some expressions of judges and the remarks 

 of text-writers, there was some color for the idea 

 that several distinct offenses could be tried at the 

 same time, but there was no real or true warrant in 

 this State for several and distinct judgments upon 

 a single indictment in the law, and for that reason 

 the prisoner should have been discharged upon the 

 expiration of the imprisonment for one year and the 

 payment of a fine of two hundred and fifty dollars. 



This decision was severely criticised by emi- 

 nent lawyers, including Mr. Charles O'Conor, 

 who wrote a review of the opinions, maintain- 

 ing that they were not sound law. 



A census of the population of the State was 

 taken during the summer, in accordance with 

 provision made by the last Legislature. The 

 following table shows the result in the several 

 counties, with comparisons with the results of 

 preceding enumerations : 



Of the voters 743,082 were native, and 395,- 

 248 naturalized; while in 1865 there were 

 583,594 native, and 239,832 naturalized. In 

 the city of New York the numher of native 

 voters had increased from 51,500 in 1865 to 

 89,907, while the naturalized voters had in- 

 creased from 77,475 to 141,202. 



NORTH CAROLINA. In the session of 

 1874-'75 the legislative body of this State 

 adjourned for a recess on December 19th, and 

 reassembled on the 18th of January, continu- 

 ing in session till March 22d. 



A large number of laws was enacted on 

 various subjects. One among the most impor- 

 tant acts of a general character was the usury 

 bill, which fixes the legal rate of interest on 

 money at eight per cent, per annum, and in- 

 flicts the penalty of forfeiture of principal as 

 well as interest if a higher rate is exacted, 

 even by express agreement. 



This bill met with strenuous opposition, and 

 was the subject of repeated and lengthy de- 

 bates ; the friends of the measure declaring its 

 object to be, to put some restraint on the cu- 

 pidity of money-lenders, and give some ease 

 to money -borrowers, chiefly the planters and 

 all engaged in farming, who, for the use of the 

 money which they necessarily want in their 

 pursuits, are usually compelled to pay interest 

 at as heavy a rate as twelve, eighteen, and 

 more per cent., which is utter ruin to them. 

 The opponents of the bill contended that free 

 trade makes money, as all other commodities, 

 to be more easily obtainable, and at lower 

 rates, than where the law interfered by im- 

 posing coercions upon the lenders. 



One of the points of debate in regard to this 

 measure was the question whether the nation- 

 al banks doing business in the State could be 

 restrained in their operations by the provisions 

 of the bill ; some maintaining that such banks 

 are not bound to obey the laws of the States 

 wherein they are located, others affirming that 

 they are so bound by the terms of the act which 

 has called them into existence. 



Of greater and more general importance was 

 the act " to commute, compromise, and settle 

 the State debt." Details of this debt are given 

 in the ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA for 1874. It con- 

 sists of several classes of bonds, issued before 

 and after the late civil war, at various times 

 and under different acts, and its aggregate 

 amount of principal and unpaid interest is 

 $38,921,848.05. The act passed at this session 

 does not recognize that part of the debt known 

 as construction bonds, amounting to $14,700,- 

 000, but rejects it as unlawful. The bonds 

 composing the rest of the debt are apportioned 

 by the act into three classes, to be funded at 

 the respective rates of forty cents on the dol- 

 lar for the first class, and of twenty-five cents 

 for the second and third classes; the new debt 

 bearing a gradually increasing rate of interest 

 for a certain time, namely, of two per cent, 

 per annum for the first two years, of three 

 per cent, for the next three years, of four per 

 cent, for the next five years, and of five per 



